1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for improving the appearance of skin and/or reducing hair loss of a subject, especially a method for improving skin aging of a subject, comprising administrating to the subject an effective amount of peripheral monocytes induced by granulocyte colony stimulating factor (GCSF) or a combination of GCSF and an interleukin relative to GCSF.
2. Descriptions of the Related Art
Skin aging can be divided into two categories, intrinsic aging and photo aging, according to the pathway of skin aging. Intrinsic aging of skin is mainly controlled by chromosomes, and the medical technology nowadays still cannot stop the progression of intrinsic aging by modifying the chromosome. Aging can only be stopped by avoiding some known aggravating factors, for example, preventing the exposure of skin to hazardous substances. These two skin aging pathways can also be differentiated by skin area covered by clothes and skin area frequently exposed to the sun, and result in different levels of skin aging. The decrease in the number of keratinocyte stem cells can be observed in intrinsic aging. The microstructure of intrinsic aging shows the loss of natural moisturizing factors in epidermis, the thickening and accumulation of the stratum corneum, disorders of basal cells, occurrence of age spots, pigmented spots and skin darkening due to the increase of melanin, flat papillary layer in the dermis, decrease of hyaluronic acid, denaturation of elastic fibers, derangement of elastic protein, decrease of collagen, etc., gradually causing the unevenness of skin and the loss of tension and elasticity, and eventually results in skin wrinkles or skin flaccidity, thinning of the subcutaneous fat, decreased secretion of sebaceous glands, decreased function of sebum membrane, deterioration of the skin protection ability and skin moisturizing ability, etc.
Over recent years, many developed countries have developed various medical cosmetic approaches to improve skin aging, including medication treatment, cosmetics application, surgical treatment, ablative treatment, injection treatment, non-ablative rejuvenation treatment, etc. However, the molecular structures of some ingredients contained in these medications or cosmetics, such as collagen, elastin, hydrolyzed protein, mucopolysaccharide, hyaluronic acid, and vitamin E, are too large to be absorbed by skin into the dermis, and thus, these ingredients can only stay in the epidermis to retain moisture. Surgical treatment, ablative treatment, and injection treatment, such as chemical peel, microdermabrasion, laser spot removers, laser resurfacing, and wrinkle removing, can renew aging skin and achieve the purpose of regeneration of new skin, but these treatments will cause trauma and slow skin recovery, resulting in various postoperative complications. The injection of collagen can only temporarily fill dermal tissue to eliminate wrinkles and the effect is maintained for no longer than nine months. Laser and radiofrequency for the non-ablative rejuvenation treatment may cause complications such as post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation and scars.
Stem cells are used to treat damaged organs; this method is the latest therapy in the medical field. Hematopoiesis stem cell (HSC) is a pluripotent stem cell in the bone marrow, which can differentiate into monocytes, granules balls, lymphocytes, red blood cells, and platelets. Among the sources of hematopoietic stem cells, peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) are relatively easy to be obtained, and the collection of peripheral blood stem cells causes less physical injury to the donor. Peripheral blood stem cells have not been applied to improve skin aging to date.
The inventors of the present application found that the peripheral monocytes from peripheral blood stem cells have the effects of improving skin appearance (e.g., improving skin aging) and reducing hair loss, and thus, can be used to reduce the striae (such as forehead wrinkles and nasolabial folds) on the skin, reduce wrinkles, prevent wrinkles, reduce discoloration of skin, improve the color of skin, whiten skin, reduce skin pigmentation, promote the activation of hair follicle cells, promote hair growth, etc.